Method for manufacturing at least one part of a sole assembly of a shoe, and sole assembly for a shoe

ABSTRACT

The invention related to a method for manufacturing at least one part of a sole assembly ( 7 ) of a shoe ( 300 ) comprising the steps of directing a laser beam towards the at least one part of the sole assembly, which comprises a polymer material, and creating at least one of an opening ( 55 ), passage, cavity or engraved pattern in the at least one part of the sole assembly by means of the laser beam, or removing material from the at least one part of the sole assembly by means of the laser beam.

The present invention is related to a method for manufacturing at leastone part of a sole assembly of a shoe, and to a sole assembly for ashoe.

Products like shoes are typically mass produced in a way that leavesonly little room for customization or fine tuning of details in the massproduced shoe. In order to obtain good economy and scale whenmanufacturing the shoe, the soles of the shoes are mass produced in highnumbers and are almost looking the same. For manufacturing a sole of ashoe or the shoe as a whole, typically an aluminium block is milled tobecome a mould for a sole. Such moulds are expensive in material andwork, and have to be made for the left and right foot respectively andfor each shoe size. Thus, a considerable number of moulds have to bemade for each sole design, which number of moulds in practice makescustomization or fine tuning of a single shoe sole unrealistic. On theother hand, customization and fine tuning of single shoe soles may bedesirable for the manufacturer to meet particular or changing customerdemands.

It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a method formanufacturing a sole assembly of a shoe or parts thereof which issuitable of making customization or fine tuning of mass produced soleseconomically viable.

According to an aspect of the invention, there is provided a method formanufacturing at least one part of a sole assembly of a shoe accordingto the features of claim 1, and a sole assembly for a shoe according tothe features of claim 21.

In particular, in an aspect of the invention there is provided a methodfor manufacturing at least one part of a sole assembly of a shoecomprising the steps of directing a laser beam towards the at least onepart of the sole assembly comprising a polymer material and creating atleast one of an opening, passage, cavity or engraved pattern in the atleast one part of the sole assembly by means of the laser beam, orremoving material from the at least one part of the sole assembly bymeans of the laser beam.

In a further aspect, there is provided a sole assembly for a shoecomprising at least one part which is manufactured from a polymermaterial, wherein the at least one part of the sole assembly comprisesat least one of an opening, passage, cavity or engraved pattern createdby means of a laser beam.

According to the invention, a laser beam generated by a laser apparatusmay be used in the manufacturing of at least one part of a sole assemblyof a shoe, for example for customizing the sole to particular needs orfor working on particular parts of the sole assembly for creating one ormore openings, passages, cavities or engraved patterns, or for removingleft-overs of sole material from the sole casting or injection process.Advantageously, it is not necessary that a number of different mouldsare made for manufacturing various sole designs, or that special mouldsare manufactured which are provided with a number of pins or otherprojecting members for creating openings or passages. Rather, a singlelaser apparatus is sufficient for customization of different soleassemblies or parts thereof, which laser apparatus can be used not onlyfor one type of sole design, but for various types of soles. By means ofcontrolling the laser apparatus in a particular way, variablecustomization of mass produced shoe soles over various shoe typesdepending on the current needs may be performed in an economicallyviable way.

The use of laser in relation to shoes is essentially known in connectionwith roughing or engraving of the shoe upper, as well as for purposes ofcutting leather. Laser is also used for measurement of foot size inorder to manufacture custom made shoes. However, laser in connectionwith manufacturing of shoe soles which comprise polymer material has notbeen applied. As compared to an upper of a shoe, a polymer based sole isa different element which requires that the polymer material bemanufactured and treated in a way that it is still able to withstand awide variety of environmental influences which are particular for theshoe sole being the part of the shoe which carries the whole weight ofthe wearer and contacts the ground. The inventors of the presentinvention found that a polymer based sole of a shoe may be manufacturedby use of a laser beam appropriately without compromising the propertiesof the sole with respect to these environmental influences.

As an example for creating an engraved pattern in the sole forcustomizing the same, the (mirrored) name of the human wearer may beengraved into the sole in the tread or on the side of the sole.According to another example, the letters of the manufacturer may beengraved, e.g., in the tread of the outsole. Also the shoe size could beengraved. Further, e.g. the country of origin, i.e. the country wherethe shoe was manufactured, could be engraved. Complex patterns or imagessuch as a digitized photo of the wearer are also possibleimplementations for using a laser beam in the manufacturing of shoesoles.

A further advantage of using a laser in the manufacturing of a sole isthat steps in the manufacturing process of the sole can be automated orimproved in different ways. Thus, for example, the laser can be used forfine tuning or trimming the sole if left-overs from the sole casting orinjection process are still adhered to the sole. E.g., the sprueextending from the heel of the sole and resulting from the injection ofpolyurethane can be cut away with the laser. This process is typically amanual operation, wherein by means of the present invention this processcan also be automated and improved, such as the accuracy of removingleft-over material. Further, for obtaining fast and simplifiedmanufacturing steps, the laser can be used for creating openings,passages or through-holes, or cavities in the sole. For example,openings or passages can be used for ventilation purposes whereby theinterior of the shoe is in air communication with the exterior forgaining breathability of the sole assembly.

According to an aspect of the invention, to increase the life time ofthe shoe sole, the at least one part of the sole assembly comprises apolymer material which is resistant to hydrolysis or contains materialwhich is resistant to hydrolysis. The inventors found that the heatgenerating laser beam may destroy a potential protecting surface layerof the polymer material and hereby opens the material for entry ofwater. If the polymer material is not resistant to hydrolysis, thehydrogen atoms of water may react with the carbon atoms and any radicalsof the polymer, if any, and may cause breakage of the chemicalconnections to the radicals over time hereby finally causing hydrolysis.As a result, the sole becomes pulverized over time and prone tomechanical damage at external impacts. After a certain period of time,it may be that the shoe cannot be used anymore. This problem is solvedby using sole material that is resistant to chemical hydrolysis, or asole material that contains material resistant to chemical hydrolysis.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the at least one part ofthe sole assembly comprises a polyurethane material based on a mixtureof an isocyanate and a polyether.

According to another embodiment of the invention, the at least one partof the sole assembly comprises a polyurethane material based on amixture of an isocyanate and a polyester based polyol, wherein one ormore of hydrolysis preventing additives are added to the polyol. Forexample, one or more of the following hydrolysis preventing additivesare added to the polyol: calcium and magnesium carbonate, or calcium andmagnesium stearate, preferably in the range of 1% to 10% of the weightof the polyol including process additives, if any.

The inventors found that chemical hydrolysis may happen over the lifetime particularly in polyester based polyurethane sole material but notin polyether based sole material. The heat generating laser beam maydestroy any protecting surface layer of the polyester based polyurethaneand hereby opens the material for entry of water. The hydrogen atoms ofwater then react with the carbon atoms and the radicals of thepolyester, which may cause breakage of the chemical connections to theradicals hereby finally causing hydrolysis.

Thus, according to an aspect of the invention, a polyurethane solematerial based on a polyether polyol can be used to increase the lifetime of the shoe. Alternatively, a polyurethane material based on apolyester polyol can be used if hydrolysis preventing additives areadded to the composition. Such additives can be calcium and magnesiumcarbonate totaling a weight percentage in the range of 1%-10% of theweight of the polyester polyol including process additives. Or it can becalcium and magnesium stearate with a total weight percentage of 1%-10%of the weight of the polyester polyol including process additives. Thismixture will create a kind of pH-buffer which makes the sole morealkaline and prevents the eroding effect of an acidic hydrolysis attackon polyester based polyurethanes with no hydrolysis preventingadditives.

In general the concentration of any hydrolysis preventing additives inthe mixture should be low, because they may otherwise damage thereaction. A preferred method used for manufacturing a polyurethane basedpart of a sole makes use of, in a known way, two tanks, designated forexample as tanks A and B. Tank A comprises the polyol, e.g. polyester orpolyether, and process additives. According to the invention hydrolysispreventing additives may be added if the tank contains polyester. Tank Bcomprises the isocyanate. The materials of tanks A and B are typicallymixed in the ratio A/B of 100 kg to 121 kg when injected into the solemould. Alternatively, the materials of tanks A and B can be mixed as apre-polymer prior to injection into the sole mould.

According to an embodiment, the at least one part of the sole assemblycomprises a thermoplastic polyurethane, or a mixture of cork andpolyurethane. The invention can be used on soles consisting only ofpolyurethane, or soles consisting of a mixture of polyurethane and cork.Particularly, a sole consisting of a thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU)can be used because the chemical properties are not changed by the laserprocess. This is due to the chemical crosslinks in the TPU.

The sole assembly can be adhered directly to the shoe upper in a directinjection process where the polyurethane is injected into a mould wherethe upper is placed, or the sole assembly can be pre-manufactured and ina later step adhered to the upper by means of gluing. The at least onepart of the sole assembly manufactured with the aid of a laser beam canbe the whole sole assembly attached below e.g. an insole of an upperassembly, i.e. comprising a tread or outsole engaging with the ground,or it can be the tread or outsole itself, or it can be a midsole whichhas an outsole attached to it or any other part of the sole. Possibleoutsoles can be made of TPU, Styrene Butadiene Rubber (SBR rubber),latex, pure cork, or cork pieces mixed with polyurethane.

According to a further embodiment of the invention, the method comprisesthe step of creating at least one opening or passage by means of thelaser beam such that the opening or passage is connecting an interior ofthe shoe with an outside of the shoe e.g. for air ventilation of theshoe. Thus, such passages can be manufactured custom-made and in aprecise way without requiring special moulds. For example, the laserbeam creates said passage in a lateral side of the at least one part ofthe sole assembly, particularly in a lateral side of a midsole of thesole assembly.

For example, the opening or passage has a diameter in the range of 0.1to 5 millimeters.

According to an embodiment, the point of laser beam focus is placed on aside wall of the at least one part of the sole assembly.

In a further embodiment of the invention, the method further comprisesthe steps of providing a ventilating sole element having a structure ormaterial allowing for air flow through it, and creating at least oneopening in a side wall of the ventilating sole element by means of thelaser beam such that the opening is enabling air ventilation from aninterior of the ventilating sole element to an outside of the shoe.According to an embodiment, the point of laser beam focus is placed onthe side wall of the ventilating sole element.

The method may also comprise the step of creating at least one openingor passage in a side wall of a ventilating sole element, which has astructure or material allowing for air flow through it, by means ofdirecting the laser beam through at least one opening or passage in theoutsole or midsole (e.g., a surrounding sole element).

Furthermore, the method comprises the steps of creating a ventilatingstructure in a ventilating sole element, e.g. channels or passages.

Accordingly, the method of the invention is suitable for manufacturing asole assembly for a wide variety of usage scenarios. The differentcomponents such as midsole, ventilating sole element, surrounding soleelement and/or outsole etc., may be manufactured for a wide variety ofusage scenarios in a way that they fulfill the particular demands. Theinterconnection between the structure or material of a ventilating soleelement or a midsole and any passages in a surrounding sole element orin an outsole is made in a manufacturing step in which openings orapertures are made in a wall of the ventilating sole element or midsoleby directing the laser beam through the passages. In this way, air andwater vapour may effectively be transferred out of the shoe via theventilating sole element or midsole and the passages in the outsole orsurrounding sole element, since the laser formed openings in theventilating sole element or midsole are then exactly aligned with thepassages in the outsole or surrounding sole element.

The method of the invention may further comprise the step of creating atleast one opening or passage in an outsole, midsole or surrounding soleelement of the sole assembly. For example, the opening or passage has adiameter in the range of 0.1 to 5 millimeters.

According to an embodiment, the at least one part of the sole assemblycomprises TPU, styrene butadiene rubber, latex or cork material, or anycombination thereof.

The at least one of an opening, passage, cavity or engraved pattern maybe formed in a lateral, medial, front or back side of the at least onepart of the sole assembly.

According to an embodiment, the method may further comprise the step ofcreating at least one opening or passage in a side wall of a ventilatingsole element, which has a structure or material allowing for air flowthrough it and which is at least partially surrounded by at least aportion of the sole assembly with at least one passage in it, by meansof the laser beam directed through the at least one passage in theportion of the sole assembly surrounding the ventilating sole element,in particular the outsole, the midsole or the surrounding sole element.

In a possible implementation of the invention, the laser beam iscontrolled to generate a power output in a range between 50 W and 500 Wat a speed in the range of 20 mm/s to 2000 mm/s.

For example, the laser beam is applied in a laser beam cycle whichrepeatedly scans over a portion of the at least one part of the soleassembly, wherein the laser beam cycle is repeated within the range of 5to 30 times.

The method may include, in an embodiment of the invention, providing acontrollable robot which is adapted to place the at least one part ofthe sole assembly in front of the laser beam, wherein the laser beamthrough a series of repeated laser cycles on the at least one part ofthe sole assembly creates the at least one of an opening, passage,cavity or engraved pattern, or removes material from the at least onepart of the sole assembly.

For example, a point of focus of the laser beam is changed in steps inthe following way: a) placing the target of the at least one part of thesole assembly in a point of focus, b) performing a first series of lasercycles which generate a channel with a first penetration depth, c)moving by means of the robot said at least one part of the sole assemblytowards the point of focus so that the bottom of the channel is placedin the focus point of the laser beam, and d) performing a second seriesof laser cycles which deepens the channel in the sole.

According to a further embodiment, a first laser workstation may be usedfor roughing an upper of the shoe, whereafter the upper is placed in amould and sole material is injected onto parts of the upper and herebyadhered to the upper, and whereafter the first laser workstation or asecond laser workstation is used for creating the at least one of anopening, passage, cavity or engraved pattern, or removing material fromthe sole material.

For example, a robot is adapted to hold the element comprising at leastone part of the sole, in front of a laser apparatus and the laserapparatus through a series of repetitive shots at the element burns awaymaterial of the element for making at least one opening, cavity, passageor a design in the element. The at least one opening, cavity or passagemay have a length of between approx. 0.5 to 50 mm. The opening, cavityor passage may be formed as an air channel or guide for supporting anair flow therein from one end of the opening to the other.

For such use, different types of lasers can be used as, e.g., diodelasers, infrared lasers and CO2 lasers. In the following an embodimentof the invention will be described which makes use of a CO2 laser. CO2lasers work with a wave length in the range of 9.4-10.6 micrometers.Usually, a laser is controlled by way of three parameters, such as speed(of the beam), quantity of energy and wavelength.

Making openings or patterns with a laser, particularly a CO2 laser, ispossible in elastomeric, i.e. meltable materials such as polyurethane(PU), thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU), ethylene vinyl chloride (EVA),polyvinyl chloride (PVC) or rubber. In these materials the laser will,using a sufficient amount of energy, burn away the targeted solematerial which will disappear without leaving debris.

Use of a laser for roughening of a shoe upper is described in DE 10 2009049 776 A1.

When roughing shoe uppers of leather, techniques exist according towhich the laser beam is swept across the surface of the upper in apredetermined time and with a predetermined amount of energy. The beamis swept by a mirror in the laser apparatus that deflect the laser beamin order to reach the surface of the shoe to be roughened while therobot holds the shoe upper in a fixed position during sweeping of thebeam. The robot places the shoe in front of the laser and then themirrors move the beam through the leather. During this process the robotis stopped. If the curvature of the shoe upper becomes too great, i.e.if the focus point of the laser beam is removed too much from thetargeted spot, the shoe upper is repositioned anew by the robot. Afterrepositioning, the new target spot is again in focus, and the lasersweeps across one or more spots.

A problem occurs, however, when deep openings in a (elastomeric) sole orpart thereof shall be made. Such openings have a depth which is by farlarger than the relatively shallow roughing made on leather uppers bythe laser. For example, a lasered channel in a leather upper has a depthof 0.5 mm, whereas an opening in the sole may extend from the medialside of the sole to the lateral side, i.e. has a length of 50 mm. If themirror-solution, which is used for roughing of the upper, withdeflecting the laser beam is used for making openings in an element of ashoe, a problem may occur in opening any borders, such as the side wallof the ventilating sole element which may need to be provided with deepand narrow channels.

When using the mirror-solution the deflection of the beam may create anacute angle between the beam itself and the surface of the element. Whenapplied for connecting narrow and elongated channels of lateral passagesof a surrounding sole element to the structure or material of aventilating sole element, such acute angle drives the beam sideways intothe channel side wall of the lateral passages and it does not reach thebottom thereof facing the ventilating sole element.

On the other hand, according to an embodiment of the invention, theopening is made in an element of the sole, such as in the side wall ofthe ventilating sole element, by keeping the beam of the laser in afixed direction (i.e. no sweeping of the laser beam) and letting therobot position the target spot of the element aligned with the center ofthe laser lens. This means that the laser beam will not be swept as whenroughening a shoe upper. Instead only the robot arm holding the sole ismoved. However, there may be applications in which a mirror may be usedwhen making openings or making patterns in an element of a sole.

This method is thus especially useful if the laser beam is shot througha cylindrical passage already present in the sole as is the case if,e.g., the end of a passage in a sole, such as in a surrounding soleelement, has to be opened.

According to an example a number of openings are made in a polyurethanesole. The sole material is polyurethane from manufacturer BASF GmbH. Thepolyurethane used has a relatively low density (0.35 g/cm3) and is oftenused for shoe midsoles. The following steps may be applied in variousways, in combination or individually depending on the particularimplementation and needs. The terms “first, second . . . ” are used onlyfor designation purposes and shall not impose any limitations as tosequence or numbers of steps.

(1) In a first step a sole is placed in front of the laser by a robot.(2) In a second step the target spot on the sole or element thereof isplaced orthogonally to the laser beam by the robot. (3) In a third stepthe laser beam hits the sole material at an angle to the sole (element)surface of approximately 90 degrees. (4) In a fourth step the focus ofthe laser is kept constant, i.e. unchanged. (5) In a fifth step a seriesof laser shots towards the target spot is performed (e.g., multipleshots in the same place). The number of shots may be between 1 and 10depending on the power of the laser and material and depth of entry.Duration per shot may be approx. 1 ms.

When applied for connecting the lateral passages of a surrounding soleelement to the structure or material of a ventilating sole element, thelaser shots may result in a diameter of the openings in the side wall ofthe ventilating sole element which equals the diameter of the passagesmade by pins of an injection mould in the surrounding sole elementduring injection. In order to get the desired diameter the number ofshots can be varied as can the relative position of the shots. During ashot cycle the target can be moved a few millimeters (e.g., the robotmoves), and the diameter will increase. In a further step, the robotmoves the sole to the next target spot, i.e. the process goes to thesecond step (2) above.

In relation to the ventilating sole element, the opening of the sidewall of the ventilating sole element with laser leaves no debris.Everything is burned away. Hereby any clogging of the air channelscaused during manufacturing of the openings is prevented. The methodfurther has the advantage that it is very fast compared e.g. to drillingout the openings.

In the following, particular embodiments and/or variations of theprocess making use of a laser for creating openings, passages cavitiesor patterns in a shoe sole are described:

In order to get a cylindrical opening, passage, cavity or pattern with aclean edge the amount of energy per shot may be increased. The focuspoint may be kept constant. The first laser shots start with a lowenergy for making a first opening or similar with a diameter of say 2mm. The next series of shots has an energy increase of 50% per shot. Theopening now has a diameter of 4 mm. The third series of shots has againan increase of energy by 50%, increasing the diameter at the beginningof the opening to 6 mm.

Alternatively, or simultaneously, the point of focus of the laser beamcan be amended per shot or per series of shots. After a first series ofshots the depth of the opening or similar—may be 3 mm. Now the focus hasto be changed and moved 3 mm further inwards in the sole. Change offocus is made via software which controls the movement of the lenses inthe laser apparatus.

Further, in order to ensure a well defined opening with a well definededge, the laser beam can be moved in a spiral shape. Such spiral shapecan be elliptical or circular. This functions the following way:

-   -   A first series of shots in the centre of the target spot.    -   The next series of shots in a neighbouring spot.    -   And continuing in a spiral shape until an opening with the        desired shape is achieved.

Ideally, in order to create a clean cut in a polyurethane sole, thediameter of the point of focus (spot size) may be between 0.5 mm and 2mm and the power between 150 watt and 250 watt. It should be noted thatthese values are to be understood as pure examples without imposing anylimitations in connection with the invention.

The robot may serve to position precisely any channels of a ventilatingsole element in front of a laser. The robot is one of the preferredsolutions because the openings are always in different positions—forinstance, the position of a shoe with size 40 is different to the sameshoe in size 41. A shoe sole is characterized by 3D-curvatures. It isnot only a 2D surface, and therefore the focus point of the laser beamis changed along the 3D surface of the sole.

Aspects of the invention and further embodiments thereof are disclosedin the following description with reference to the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is an exploded three-dimensional view of main components of ashoe having a sole assembly, wherein parts of the sole assembly can bemanufactured with a method according to the invention,

FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an embodiment of a shoewith passages or openings manufactured with a method according toaspects of the invention,

FIG. 3A-C show an embodiment of a mould and of a semimanufacturedproduct formed in the process of manufacturing a shoe, thesemimanufactured product comprising an exemplary outsole and ventilatingsole element attached to the outsole,

FIG. 4A-C show a semimanufactured product of FIG. 3 in various processsteps for manufacturing the finished shoe,

FIG. 5A-B show exemplary embodiments of laser apparatuses which may beused in the manufacturing of a part of a sole assembly of a shoe inaccordance with aspects of the invention,

FIG. 6A-D show schematic results of an exemplary pattern manufactured ona part of a sole assembly according to aspects of the invention,

FIG. 7A-C show further schematic results of exemplary patternsmanufactured on a part of a sole assembly according to aspects of theinvention,

FIG. 8 shows a schematic view of a manufacturing principle in accordancewith aspects of the invention for forming ventilating openings in a partof a sole assembly.

In the following, exemplary embodiments of a method according to theinvention applied in the manufacturing of an exemplary shoe will bedescribed. The skilled person will be aware that various changes oradaptations may be made as far as appropriate and depending on theparticular needs of the respective shoe or sole construction.

As described in the following in more detail, the principles ofmanufacturing of at least parts of a sole assembly of a shoe by means ofa laser beam in accordance with the invention may be applied basicallyto any kind of shoe. In an aspect of the invention, the method may beapplied to a kind of sole assembly of a shoe as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.In order to better understand the structure and function of therespective parts of the sole assembly and the particulars involved inthe laser beam manufacturing, at first an explanation will be given asto the structure and function of the main elements of the shoe.

FIG. 1 shows an exploded three-dimensional view of main components of ashoe 300 according to an embodiment. The shoe 300 comprises a soleassembly 7 and an upper assembly 8. The sole assembly 7 in turncomprises, from bottom to top in the exploded view, an outsole 90, ashank 172, a ventilating sole element 60, a comfort layer 40, and asurrounding sole element 80.

The position of a vertical plane including horizontal line Y-Ycorresponds to the position of the cross-sectional plane depicted inFIG. 2. It is pointed out that the embodiment of FIG. 2 is differentfrom the shoe 300, but that the position and viewing direction of thedepicted vertical cross-sectional plane can be inferred from the lineY-Y and the associated arrows, which represent the viewing direction.

The outsole 90 comprises a tread or corrugated structure on its lowersurface for improving the grip characteristics of the shoe duringwalking. The shank 172 is provided in the shoe 300 to give it additionalstability. The shank 172 is optional and may be made of metal or anyother suitable material. Due to the illustrative nature of FIG. 1, theshank 172 is shown as a separate element. However, in most embodiments,the shank 172 is positioned within the ventilating sole element 60.

The ventilating sole element 60 comprises a channel structure, inparticular a channel grid, at its upper side. The channel structurecomprises transverse channels, generally designated with referencenumeral 181. Channels 184 cross the transverse channels 181.

A distinction is made between at least one peripheral channel beingformed in a peripheral region of the channel structure and longitudinalchannels. For the sake of simplicity in describing different shoeconstructions, the channels 184 are generally referred to aslongitudinal channels, although one or more of the channelcross-sections shown may belong to one or more peripheral channels.

The ventilating sole element 60 has an upper surface 606, a lowersurface 604 and a lateral surface 602. In an assembled state of the shoe300, the lower surface 604 of the ventilating sole element 60 is partlyadjacent the shank 172 and partly adjacent the outsole 90, the uppersurface 606 of the ventilating sole element 60 is adjacent the comfortlayer 40, and the lateral surface 602 of the ventilating sole element 60is adjacent a lateral inner surface 802 of the surrounding sole element80. Regarding the engagement/connection of the individual components,more details are given below.

The channel structure, in particular the transverse channels 181, is inair communication with a plurality of openings 55. The openings 55extend through a side wall of the ventilating sole element 60,particularly they extend from the channel structure of the ventilatingsole element 60 to lateral passages 50 of the surrounding sole element80.

The surrounding sole element 80 has a varying height across itscircumference, with the lateral passages being arranged at differentheights. In this way, the positions of the lateral passages account forthe uneven surface structure of the ventilating sole element 60, whichtakes into account the wearer's foot and its positioning during walking.Exemplary embodiments of the components are described in greater detailbelow.

FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a shoe 301 a in accordancewith an embodiment. FIG. 2 is in particular schematic in that it shows au-shaped shoe portion. It is apparent to a person skilled in the artthat the shoe is closed on top, in particular in a forefoot region.

The shoe 301 a comprises an upper assembly 8 and a sole assembly 7. Theupper assembly 8 has an upper portion 10 and a bottom portion 20. Theupper portion 10 comprises, from outside to inside, a breathable outermaterial 11, also referred to as upper material, a mesh 12, an uppermembrane 13, and a textile lining 14. The mesh 12, the upper membrane 13and the textile lining 14 are provided as a laminate, also referred toas upper functional layer laminate 17. The upper membrane 13 isbreathable and waterproof. With all of the upper material 11, the mesh12 and the textile lining 14 being breathable, i.e. water vapourpermeable, the upper portion 10 as a whole is breathable and waterproof.

The upper material 11 may be any breathable material suitable forforming the outside of a shoe, such as leather, suede, textile or manmade fabrics, etc.

The upper functional layer laminate (i.e. mesh 12, upper membrane 13 andtextile lining 14) may be any suitable waterproof and breathablelaminate, such as commercially available GORE-TEX® laminate from W.L.Gore & Associates.

A lower portion of the outer material 11 is comprised of a netband 15.The netband 15 may be attached to the remainder of the outer material 11through any suitable way of connection, for example stitching or gluing.In the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 2, the netband 15 is attached to theremainder of the outer material 11 via stitching 16, as illustrated by aconnecting line. As the term netband suggests, this portion of the outermaterial is not a continuous material, but comprises voids in thematerial that allow for the penetration of fluid sole materialtherethrough, as will be explained later. Instead of providing anetband, the lower portion may also be comprised of the same material asthe remainder of the outer material, with the voids being generated bypuncturing or perforating the outer material in the lower portion.

The bottom portion 20 comprises, from bottom to top, a lower membrane 21and a supporting textile 22. The textile may be a woven, non-woven orknitted textile, for example Cambrelle®. The lower membrane 21 and thesupporting textile 22 are provided as a laminate, also referred to asbottom functional layer laminate 24. The lower membrane 21 is waterproofand breathable. With the supporting textile 22 being breathable, anoverall breathable and waterproof bottom functional layer laminate 24 isprovided. The bottom functional layer laminate 24 may be any suitablelaminate, for example commercially available GORE-TEX® laminate fromW.L. Gore & Associates.

The upper portion 10 and the bottom portion 20 are connected to eachother at their respective end areas. Particularly, a lower end area ofthe upper functional layer laminate 17 is connected to a side end areaof the bottom functional layer laminate 24. In the embodiment of FIG. 2,this connection also connects an end area of the netband 15 to the upperfunctional layer laminate 17 and the bottom functional layer laminate24. The bottom functional layer laminate 24, the upper functional layerlaminate 17 and the netband are stitched together, for example by astrobel stitch or a zigzag stitch. Accordingly, a connection 30, alsoreferred to as bond 30, in the form of a sewn or stitched seam is formedconnecting the bottom functional layer laminate 24, the outer material11 (via the netband 15) and the upper functional layer laminate 17. Thisseam 30 is sealed in a waterproof manner by sole material, as will beexplained later, such that a waterproof structure is formed by the upperportion 10 and the bottom portion 20.

The upper functional layer laminate 17 and the bottom functional layerlaminate 24 may be positioned end-to-end before being connected andsealed together, as shown in FIG. 2. Both laminates may also be bentdownwards, such that respective portions of the upper sides of thelaminates are positioned adjacent each other. In these differentpositions, the laminates may be connected, for example through stitchingas shown, and the connection region may be sealed. The netband 15 of theouter material 11 may be positioned corresponding to the upperfunctional layer laminate 17, i.e. in an end-to-end or overlap or bentrelation with respect to the bottom functional layer laminate 24, suchthat the connection 30 also connects the netband 15 to the bottomfunctional layer laminate 24 and the upper functional layer laminate 17.The netband 15 may also extend through the connection 30, which isuncritical due to its porous structure. These different options forforming the connection 30 may be applied to all embodiments describedherein.

In the embodiment of FIG. 2, the connection 30 between the upperfunctional layer laminate 17 and the bottom functional layer laminate 24is located at the substantially horizontal portion of the inside of theshoe 301 a, which is intended to support the underside of the wearer'sfoot. In the cross-sectional plane of FIG. 2, the connection 30 is closeto the lateral end of said substantially horizontal portion, i.e. closeto the point where the portion for supporting the weight of the foottransitions into the side wall of the shoe. Due to the nature of theshoe 301 a, the bottom functional layer laminate 24 is a substantiallyfoot-shaped structure, with the upper functional layer laminate 17 beingconnected thereto perimetrically. It is pointed out that the termshorizontal and vertical refer to the horizontal and vertical directionspresent when the shoe is placed with the sole on an even ground.

The sole or sole assembly 7 of the shoe 301 a, i.e. the portion of theshoe 301 a below the upper assembly 8, which consists of the upperportion 10 and the bottom portion 20, is comprised of a ventilating soleelement 61, a comfort layer 40 and a surrounding sole element 81.

The ventilating sole element 61 comprises a channel structure 160 thatallows for air communication between the upper side of the ventilatingsole element 61 and openings 55. Lateral passages 50 extend through aside wall 702 of the surrounding sole element 81 and the openings 55extend through a side wall 608 of the ventilating sole element 61. Foran easier reading of FIG. 2, the reference numerals 608 and 702 areprovided with brackets illustrating lateral extensions of the side wallof the ventilating sole element and side wall of the surrounding soleelement, respectively. It is, however, understood that the referencenumerals 608 and 702 are meant to denote the side wall of theventilating sole element and the side wall of the surrounding soleelement themselves. The channel system 160 of the embodiment of FIG. 2comprises a plurality of longitudinal channels 184, arranged in thelongitudinal direction of the shoe 301 a, and a plurality of transversechannels 181, arranged in the transverse direction of the shoe 301 a,i.e. in the direction orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of theshoe.

The cross-sectional view of FIG. 2 cuts through a transverse channel 181of the channel structure 160 along the horizontal line Y-Y of FIG. 1.Therefore, the transverse channel 181 of the ventilating sole element 61is not shown in a shaded manner, as the cross-sectional cut reachesthrough the open channel. In contrast thereto, the portions of theventilating sole element 61 surrounding the channel structure 160 andthe surrounding sole element 81 are shown in a shaded mannerillustrating that the cross-section of FIG. 2 slices through these shoeelements in the depicted cross-sectional plane. Correspondingly, theupper assembly 8 and the comfort layer 40 are shown in a shaded manner.

In the cross-sectional view of FIG. 2, the longitudinal channels 184 areseen in their cross-sectional shape, which is a u-shape reaching fromthe upper surface 606 of the ventilating sole element 61 some distancetowards the lower surface 604 of the ventilating sole element 61. Thetransverse channel 181 cut in the cross-section of FIG. 2 is confined bya surface made of the portions between the longitudinal channels lyingbehind the cross-sectional plane. Accordingly, the transverse channel181 depicted extends longitudinally behind the cross-sectional plane ofFIG. 2, with the non-shaded portions of the ventilating sole element 61,which surround the u-shaped longitudinal channels 184, forming atrans-verse boundary surface. Only the u-shaped longitudinal channels184 form a longitudinal air flow permitting connection to furthertransverse channels behind and in front of the cross-sectional plane ofFIG. 2.

The u-shape of the longitudinal and transverse channels allows for agood compromise between providing sufficient channel volume for fluidcommunication and providing a strong ventilating sole element structurefor supporting the wearer's foot and transferring the wearer's weight tothe ground and/or the surrounding sole element 81. Also, the u-shapedchannels can be manufactured easily and quickly, particularly in thecase of an injection-moulded ventilating sole element 61, because therounded channel side walls allow for an easy parting of the ventilatingsole element 61 and the mould after the moulding operation. Of coursethe channels may also be manufactured using a laser beam.

It is pointed out that the channels of the ventilating sole element 61may have any suitable cross-section that allows for an efficienttransfer of water vapour from the upper side of the ventilating soleelement 61 to the lateral passages 50 in the surrounding sole element81. At the same time, the ventilating sole element 61 should provide astable structure for the sole of the shoe. It is also pointed out thatthe channels may have varying cross-sections along their length in orderto form a channel system having desired properties.

The exemplary embodiment of FIG. 2 comprises five longitudinal channels184, which are distributed across the width of the ventilating soleelement 61 in a uniform manner. It is also possible that thelongitudinal channels have varying widths and/or are distributednon-uniformly across the width of the ventilating sole element 61.Further, it is possible that these channels are at an angle with respectto the longitudinal direction of the shoe 301 a, such that any suitablechannel structure 160 may be formed.

The transverse channel 181 connects the longitudinal channels 184 toeach other and to the openings 55 and lateral passages 50 in thesurrounding sole element 81. At its lateral ends, the transverse channelis equipped with air and moisture discharging ports 182. The air andmoisture discharging ports 182 are arranged laterally outside from thelaterally outmost longitudinal channel. In particular, the air andmoisture discharging ports 182 are arranged directly adjacent the sidewall 608 of the ventilating sole element 61. The air and moisturedischarging ports 182 are formed by recesses in the floor of thetransverse channels 181. In other words, the floor of the transversechannels 181 extends deeper down into the ventilating sole element 61 inthe region of the air and moisture discharging ports 182 than throughoutthe remainder of the transverse channels 181. The air and moisturedischarging ports 182 allow for an efficient collection ofmoisture/water vapour from the inside of the shoe, from where the watervapour can be carried away effectively through the openings 55 andlateral passages 50. All or only a subset of the transverse channels may181 have air and moisture discharging ports. The ports too may bemanufactured by the use of a laser beam.

All or only a subset of the transverse channels 181 may provide for theconnection with openings 55 and lateral passages 50. There may also betransverse channels 181 that are not in air communication with openings55 and lateral passages 50, but end in dead ends. The transversechannels of the ventilating sole element 61, one of which is being shownin FIG. 2, allow for air communication between the channel system 160 ofthe ventilating sole element 61 and the openings 55 and lateral passages50 extending through the side walls 608 and 702, respectively. With thebottom functional layer laminate 24 being breathable, water vapourtransport from the inside of the shoe to the lateral outside of the sole7 is ensured through the ventilating sole element structure, whichallows the water vapour containing air to pass through it.

It is pointed out that the transverse channels 181 may have the same, asmaller or greater height than the longitudinal channels 184. They maybe channels that reach from the top of the ventilating sole elementtowards the inside of the ventilating sole element, such that they canalso be seen as grooves or tranches. It is also possible that thetransverse channels lie below a portion of the ventilating sole element61 and are therefore not readily visible from the top of the ventilatingsole element 61. Also, the longitudinal channels may be grooves, asshown, or channels concealed from the upper surface of the ventilatingsole element 61.

In the present embodiment, the channel system 160 of the ventilatingsole element 61 is a channel grid. The channels of the channel gridextend from the top of the ventilating sole element 61 to the insidethereof. The channels may be longitudinal channels 184 and transversechannels 181, which intersect for allowing air communicationtherebetween. The channels may also be diagonal channels, when seen fromthe top of the ventilating sole element. In general, such a channel gridmay have any combination of longitudinal, transverse and diagonalchannels.

It is pointed out that any channel structure may be embodied in allother constructions of the remainder of the shoe, in particular incombination with all other upper assembly constructions and all otherconstructions relating to the remainder of the sole 7.

The lateral passages 50 extend through the side wall 702 of thesurrounding sole element 81 and the openings 55 extend through a sidewall 608 of the ventilating sole element 61 of the shoe 301 a, allowingfor air communication between the channel structure of the ventilatingsole element 61 and the lateral outside of the shoe 301 a. In theexemplary embodiment of FIG. 2, the lateral passages 50 and openings 55are depicted as transverse passages and openings being horizontal.However, the terms lateral passage and openings may not be understood insuch a restricting manner. A lateral passage or opening may be anypassage or opening, respectively, that allows for an air communicationbetween the inside of the ventilating sole element and a lateral outsideof the surrounding sole element, i.e. the outside of the surroundingsole element that is not the underside of the shoe 301. The principlesof the invention, however, may also be applied with any kind of opening,cavity or passage, including those which are open to the underside ofthe shoe. In the present embodiment, the lateral passages 50 and/oropenings 55 may be inclined with respect to the horizontal direction, inparticular with the outer end lower than the inner end of theventilation passage. This inclination has the advantage that water candrain out more easily from the ventilating sole element and surroundingsole element. However, horizontal lateral passages and openings have theadvantage of providing a favourable path for air or water vapour flow,particularly if a continuous passage from the right side of theventilating sole element to the left side of the ventilating soleelement or vice versa is present. The lateral passages 50 and/oropenings 55 may also be inclined with the outer end being higher thanthe inner end of the ventilation passage. This helps when creating theopenings by laser operation without any danger of damaging the delicatemembrane 21 of the bottom functional layer laminate 24. Moreover, watervapour, which is warm due to the wearer's body temperature, mayeffectively exit the ventilating sole element through such inclinedlateral passages in a chimney-like manner. When viewed from the top ofthe ventilating and surrounding sole element, the lateral passages 50may be in a longitudinal direction of the shoe, in a transversedirection of the shoe, or in any direction therebetween. For example, inthe front or the back of the shoe, the ventilation channels may besubstantially in a longitudinal direction of the shoe.

The ventilating sole element 61 of the shoe 301 a also comprises acircular lip 101. The circular lip 101 is arranged at the upper lateraledge of the ventilating sole element 61. As the ventilating sole element61 is a three-dimensional structure, the circular lip 101 surrounds theperimetric upper edge of the remainder of the ventilating sole element61. In other words, the circular lip 101 is arranged at the periphery ofthe upper lateral portion of the ventilating sole element 61.Accordingly, the term circular is not intended to be understood asreferring to the shape of a circle. Instead, it is understood asreferring to a structure surrounding an inner space or as referring to aloop structure. However, the term is also not intended to require aclosed lip or collar structure. The lip may be continuous around theperimeter of the ventilating sole element 61, but is may also be made ofa plurality of spaced apart lip sections distributed around theperimeter of the ventilating sole element 61. The lip also does not needto be arranged right at the upper lateral edge of the ventilating soleelement 61. It may also be attached to the lateral surface 602 or theupper surface 606 thereof. However, a positioning in the vicinity of anupper circumferential edge of the ventilating sole element may bebeneficial, as will be discussed below.

The circular lip 101 may perform one or more of the functions describedas follows. As shown in FIG. 2, the circular lip 101 extends to theposition of the connection 30. The connection 30 includes the circularlip 101, such that it connects the upper portion 10, the bottom portion20 as well as the ventilating sole element 61. In particular, thestrobel stitch 30 connects the upper functional layer laminate 17, thenetband 15 of the upper material 11, the bottom functional layerlaminate 24 and the circular lip 101 of the ventilating sole element 61.Hence, the circular lip 101 allows for an attachment of the ventilatingsole element 61 to the upper assembly 8. This attachment is independentfrom the attachment of the ventilating sole element 61 to the upperassembly 8 via the surrounding sole element 81. During the manufactureof the shoe 301 a, the ventilating sole element 61 may be attached tothe upper assembly 8 in a fixed position through the connection 30 alongthe circular lip 101, which may also leave the comfort layer 40 in afixed position. This allows for a more accurate production of the shoe301 a, as the fixed position of the ventilating sole element 61 ensuresthat the surrounding sole element 81 surrounds the ventilating soleelement 61 in the desired manner and location.

It is also possible that the ventilating sole element 61, comprising thecircular lip 101, is attached to the upper assembly by gluing thecircular lip 101 onto the upper assembly 8 or by effecting an attachmentbetween the circular lip 101 and the upper assembly 8 through a localinjection-moulding operation in the region of the circular lip 101,particularly only in the region of the circular lip 101.

The upper portion of the surrounding sole element 81 is located abovethe circular lip 101 of the ventilating sole element 61, i.e. below apart of the bottom functional layer laminate 24, as well as underneaththe circular lip 101 and underneath a part of the upper portion 10 ofthe upper assembly 8 as well as adjacent a part of the upper portion 10of the upper assembly 8 that is arranged in a substantially verticaldirection. In other words, the surrounding sole element 81 wraps aroundthe corner of the upper assembly 8 where the inside of the shoe ispatterned to match a wearer's foot. In yet other words, the surroundingsole element 81 covers a part of the underside of the upper assembly 8as well as parts of the lower lateral sides of the upper assembly 8.Sole material of the surrounding sole element 81 is penetrated throughthe netband 15, through the strobel stitch 30, through the mesh 12, ontothe upper material 11, onto the upper membrane 13, around at least aportion of the circular lip 101 and onto the bottom membrane 21. Thispenetrated sole material seals the strobel stitch 30 in a waterproofmanner on the one hand and attaches the ventilating sole element to theupper assembly 8 on the other hand. The sealing provides a completelywaterproof upper assembly 8 made up of the upper functional layerlaminate 17 and the lower functional layer laminate 24 surrounding theinterior of the shoe and being sealed in a waterproof manner to eachother. The sealed upper functional layer laminate 17 and bottomfunctional layer laminate 24 form a waterproof, breathable functionallayer arrangement. Thus the upper assembly 8 is waterproof, which allowsthe sole assembly to be non-waterproof. The surrounding sole materialalso penetrates through the connection 30 to the upper sides of thebottom functional layer laminate 24 and the upper functional layerlaminate 17, which is illustrated by the circle sector covering theupper side of the strobel stitch 30 and extending onto the bottomfunctional layer laminate 24 and the upper functional layer laminate 17in FIG. 2. In particular, the surrounding sole material penetratesthrough the space between the two laminates upwards. The surroundingsole material also penetrates somewhat in between the circular lip 101and the bottom functional layer laminate 24. In this way, the wholeregion of the strobel stitch 30 is penetrated with surrounding solematerial, such that all holes generated in the upper membrane 13 and thebottom membrane 21 through the strobel stitching operation are reliablysealed by surrounding sole material. However, the penetratingsurrounding sole material is kept to such a low volume that the comfortfor the wearer as well as the breathability of the upper assembly 8 isessentially unimpeded.

Above the ventilating sole element 61, a comfort layer 40 is provided inthe shoe 301 a. The comfort layer 40 is positioned on top of theventilating sole element 61. The comfort layer 40 may be looselypositioned there or may be attached before further manufacturing of theshoe. Such attachment may be achieved by a spot-gluing orcircumferential gluing or by gluing making use of breathable glue, suchthat the flow of water-vapour from the inside of the shoe to theventilating sole element 61 is not prevented. Also, the full surface ofthe ventilating sole element 61 can be glued, and in order to preventglue to enter the channels a highly thixotropic glue should be used. Thecomfort layer 40 is inserted for increasing the soft walking feel forthe wearer, particularly for ensuring that the wearer does not feelbothered by the channel system 160 of the ventilating sole element 61.In the exemplary embodiment of the shoe 301 a, the comfort layer 40 hasa greater lateral extension than the channel system 160 of theventilating sole element 61 and extends somewhat above the region of thecircular lip 101. However, the comfort layer does not extend to thelateral edges of the circular lip 101 where it is attached to the upperassembly 8. In general, the comfort layer may have the same or smalleror larger lateral dimensions as/than the ventilating sole element.

The ventilating and surrounding sole elements are produced and attachedto the upper assembly 8 in a several stage process. As a first step, theventilating sole element 61 is produced, for example throughinjection-moulding of a polyurethane (PU) into a mould with the channelsbeing produced either by the mould being shaped accordingly or by theuse of a laser beam. Polyurethane is one of a plurality of suitablematerials that can be used in order to form a ventilating sole element61 that has high stability to support at least a portion of the weightof the wearer during use, such as during walking, while having someflexibility in order to enhance the wearer's comfort during walking.Depending on the preferred use of the shoe, a suitable material can bechosen. Examples of such materials besides polyurethane is EVA (EthyleneVinyl Acetate). etc.

As a next step, the comfort layer 40 is placed on top of the ventilatingsole element 61 and attached to it using an adhesive. The ventilatingsole element 61 and the comfort layer 40 are then placed in the desiredposition with respect to the upper assembly 8 in a mould, wherein thesurrounding sole element material is injection-moulded onto the upperassembly 8 and the ventilating sole element 61. In this way, thesurrounding sole element 81 adheres to the upper assembly 8 as well asto the sole ventilating element 61, such that a lasting, integral jointof these elements is achieved through the sole material of thesurrounding sole element 81. Suitable materials for the surrounding soleelement are polyurethane, EVA, PVC or rubber, etc.

In the embodiment of FIG. 2, the netband 15 wraps around the corner ofthe upper portion 10, i.e. the part of the upper portion 10 where theupper functional layer laminate 17 and the netband 15 of the uppermaterial 11 are bent from a substantially horizontal orientation to asubstantially vertical orientation. The part having a substantiallyvertical orientation forms the side walls for the wearer's foot.Accordingly, the sole material of the surrounding sole element 81 maypenetrate through the netband 15 and onto the upper membrane from theunderside and from the lateral sides of the upper assembly 8. In thisway, a strong, multi-directional attachment between the surrounding soleelement 81 and the upper functional layer laminate 17 is achieved, aswell as a good seal provided between the laminates 17, 24.

In the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 2, the surrounding sole element 81reaches further down than the ventilating sole element 61, which leadsto a supporting of the wearer's weight by only the surrounding soleelement 81 on a plane surface. This may be desired, as only a portion ofthe sole needs to be designed for continuous load bearing of the wearer,whereas the material used for the ventilating sole element 61 may bechosen based on the manufacturing characteristics for producing thechannel system 160 and/or based on a minimisation of weight of theventilating sole element 61 and therefore of the centre portion of thesole 7 of the shoe 301 a in which the ventilating sole element 61 issituated.

Even though, according to the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 2, the sole 7of the shoe 301 a is not shown to have an outer sole, it is pointed outthat such an additional sole element could be provided therewith. Also,the undersides of the ventilating sole element 61 and the surroundingsole element 81 are not provided with a tread structure for improvingthe grip of the sole assembly 7 on the ground during use of the shoe. Itis, however, pointed out that tread elements may be provided at theunderside of the sole in all embodiments described. Such tread elementsmay e.g. be formed by the use of a laser beam.

In the following, an exemplary method for manufacturing a shoe inaccordance with principles of the invention will be described. Theskilled person will be aware that various changes or adaptations may bemade in manufacturing the shoe as far as appropriate and depending onthe particular needs of the respective shoe construction.

In a process of forming an upper assembly, a bottom portion 20 of theupper assembly is attached to an upper portion 10 thereof. This can bedone in any suitable way, for example using commonly known methods suchas gluing, stitching etc. For example, the bottom portion may comprise abreathable insole or a waterproof, breathable functional layer laminatewith a membrane being waterproof and water vapour permeable. The bottomportion may extend between lower end areas of the upper portion such asshown in the examples of FIGS. 1 and 2. Particularly, the bottom portionmay be seen as the lower part of the upper assembly extending betweenthe seams 30. Accordingly, it may encompass also parts of the sideportions of the upper assembly.

In the examples of FIGS. 1 and 2 as described above, the bottom portion20 of the upper assembly comprises a waterproof, breathable bottomfunctional layer laminate. In an embodiment, a 2-layer bottom functionallayer laminate is stitched (“strobeled”) to a waterproof, breathableupper functional layer laminate at a stitched seam 30 according to theStrobel method as described above. For example, the laminate may have atextile layer 22 on top towards the foot and a membrane, which iswaterproof and breathable, below towards the sole.

In the process of forming a sole assembly, an outsole, e.g. of rubber,is made in a respective manufacturing step as commonly known. The rubberis vulcanized and shaped into an outsole. Afterwards, the outsole mayoptionally be chemically primed by brushing “TFL Primer” (commerciallyavailable from the company Forbo Adhesives) on the surface facing thefoot. Priming is carried out on open rubber cells in a well known mannerto improve the connection to the polyurethane of the ventilating soleelement which is later injected. After such priming, glue (for example,Helmipur® GPU from Forbo Adhesives) is applied to that area of theoutsole where the ventilating sole element is to be placed later. Theoutsole is dried for a particular period of time as necessary, forexample half an hour at 25-40° C.

In a further step, the outsole is then placed on a piston of a mould,which is in the present embodiment a first injection form or mould andis shaped to mould the ventilating sole element. An exemplary injectionmould 210 is shown in FIG. 3A. It comprises side frames 211 which areshown in a closed position surrounding a bottom portion 213 of themould. The structure visible on top of the bottom portion 213 isarranged to form the channel structure in the ventilating sole element,as can been seen in FIG. 3C with channel structure 162. The outsole maybe placed on another part of the mould 210, for example on a top pistonas the top part of the mould. For example, as shown in FIG. 3B, anoutsole 191 is placed on top of a top piston 212 of the mould 210. In asubsequent step, the side frames 211 of the mould 210 close from anopened state into the state as shown in FIG. 3A, wherein the top piston212 with the outsole 191 facing the inner space of the mould is loweredand seals the mould 210 from the top (not shown).

Afterwards, the material forming the ventilating sole element, such aspolyurethane, is injected into the mould 210. In an embodiment of theinvention, this may be the same polyurethane which is used for asurrounding sole element (which may also be seen as a midsole) later on.In another embodiment the polyurethane of the ventilating sole elementis softer (Shore A value of e.g. 30-45) than a polyurethane used for thesurrounding sole element (Shore A value of e.g. 45-65). This increasescomfort for the wearer. During injection the formed ventilating soleelement is bonded to the outsole. After completion of the injectionprocess, these two components now form a monolithic entity, as can beseen in FIG. 3C. Subsequently, the edges of the ventilating sole elementmay be manually treated for superfluous material, if any, or left-overmaterial may be removed by use of a laser beam of a laser apparatus.

The manufacturing steps as described above may be performed and finishedin a particular manufacturing site independently from other parts of theshoe, for example by a sub-supplier, who will deliver to the shoemanufacturer, for instance, a finished semimanufactured productcomprising the ventilating sole element attached to an outsole. Anembodiment of a ventilating sole element 161 attached to an outsole 191is shown in FIG. 3C. In other embodiments, according to the aspects asdescribed with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, a semimanufactured productcomprising any type of ventilating sole element with or without anoutsole component and/or stilts may be manufactured in a first stage ofa manufacturing process, e.g. by a sub-supplier.

As illustrated in FIG. 4A, a breathable comfort layer 40 is fixed on thesurface of the ventilating sole element, e.g. by glue being manuallyspread on the edge of the ventilating sole element or over parts of orthe full surface of the ventilating sole element. According to anembodiment, before assembling the material on the ventilating soleelement, mechanical pressure is applied to the material, which iscompressed, e.g., from 2 mm to 1 mm in thickness. This may be done tomake the material more compact and hence to lower the amount of waterabsorbed. This advantageously prevents the material from acting assponge which nurtures growth of fungus and the like.

The ventilating sole element with the outsole and the comfort layer isthen placed in an injection mould, such as a second injection mould 220as shown in FIG. 4B. For example, the outsole 191 with the ventilatingsole element 161 and the comfort layer 40 is placed on top of a bottompiston 222. With the second injection mould the surrounding sole elementis formed in injection process. In this particular example, the secondinjection mould 220 incorporates pins 221 in the side frames for makinglateral passages in a surrounding sole element.

At the beginning of the moulding process, the last with the upperportion 10 of the shoe is lowered into the second injection mould 220.The bottom piston 222 is then raised until the ventilating sole elementhas firm contact with the bottom portion 20 of the shoe upper assemblyplaced on the last. The contact between ventilating sole element withcomfort layer and the bottom portion 20 must be so tight thatpolyurethane from the upcoming injection does not enter between bottomportion 20 and comfort layer. In order to achieve a tight sealing a lipextends vertically from the surface of the ventilating sole element. Thelip could be arranged around the full upper circumferential edge of thesole element, but preferably a U-shaped lip of approx 2 mm height ismade in the heel area, and a 1 mm high lip is made in the forefoot area.When raising bottom piston 222 against bottom portion 20 an extramechanical pressure is exerted on the lip in order to deform it a bit.Due to the force impact the lip will bend outside and away from theventilating sole element, and with the aid of the comfort layer make atight seal which prevents entry of polyurethane. After raising thebottom piston the side frames with pins 221 close the mould 220, asshown in FIG. 4C. The pins 221 contact the side wall of the ventilatingsole element so as to form lateral passages 50 in the surrounding soleelement to be injected, but do not penetrate it.

Thereafter, an injection with surrounding sole material, particularlyPU, is made, hereby creating a surrounding sole element. After a certaincuring time (e.g. 3.5 minutes) the side frames are opened and last withthe shoe is lifted. Any remaining sprue is manually removed from thesurrounding sole element with a knife or automatically with a laserbeam.

In a subsequent step, openings 55 are made in the side wall of theventilating sole element, e.g. with a laser beam as outlined in moredetail below with reference to FIG. 8.

According to another embodiment, if no pins 221 are provided in thesecond injection mould 220, the lateral passages 50 in the surroundingsole element and the openings 55 in the side wall of the ventilatingsole element may be made with a laser beam which removes wall materialappropriately, for example in a process as described in more detailbelow.

The creation of openings 55 in the side wall of the ventilating soleelement connects the lateral passages 50 of the surrounding sole elementto the structure or material of the ventilating sole element, so thatwater vapour can flow and/or diffuse through the bottom portion of theupper assembly and then flow through the structure or material of theventilating sole element together with the air flowing therethrough andthen through the lateral passages in the surrounding sole element to theoutside of the shoe, that is the ambient air. The structure or materialof the ventilating sole element and the lateral passages in thesurrounding sole element are interconnected by making apertures oropenings in the ventilating sole element through the lateral passages,so that thereafter there is a reliable path for air to communicatebetween the structure or material of the ventilating sole element and anoutside of the surrounding sole element, that is the ambient air.

In the following, a possible implementation for making openings,passages or cavities in a part of a sole assembly of a shoe, or forremoving material from a sole assembly is described by way of examples.

For example, in the manufacturing of at least one part of a soleassembly the following two embodiments of laser work stations may beused. First as shown in FIG. 5A, there is provided a laser work station70 with a laser apparatus 71 (in the present example, a CO2 laser) and anon-moving sole target 76, which is at least one part of a sole assemblyof a shoe, placed on a carrier 77. The laser apparatus 71 emits a laserbeam 75 which is appropriate to generate heat for removing sole materialfrom the sole target. Further, there is provided a scan head 72 and amirror 73 for deflecting the laser beam 75 appropriately. The laser beam75 is guided through a focus lens 74 and vertically down to the soletarget 76, where the laser beam is swept across the sole target 76,which is mechanically fixed to the carrier such as a non-moving table77, by means of the scan head 72 and mirror 73. A control unit 78controls the position of the mirror 73 for deflecting and sweeping thelaser beam in a way that one or more of desired openings, passages, orcavities may be generated in the sole target by removing sole materialfrom the sole target appropriately. A laser work station following thisprinciple is manufactured, e.g., by the company CEI Companhia deEquipamentos.

FIG. 5B shows another possible laser work station 90 following a workingprinciple as proposed by the applicants. During operation the laser beam95 of this work station runs with automatic variable speed in the rangeof 50-15000 mm/s. The laser work station comprises a laser source 91 anda control unit 92, which controls a robot 98 and the position of amirror 93 in a scan head 94. A laser beam 95 is sent via focus lens 96to a sole target 97, and hits the sole target in focus point F. The soletarget 97 is positioned in front of the laser beam 95 by means of robot98, which has a moveable arm 99. The arm 99 is able to position nearlyall parts of the sole target 97 in the focus point F, and can makeminute movements back and forth.

For example, both laser workstations use a CO2 laser manufactured by thecompany Synrad, which is of the Firestar series, model FSF201SB (dualtube laser). It is able to give a maximum of 700 W at wavelength10200-1060 nm (EN 60825-1), but tests were made in the range up to 300W. The scan heads 72 and 94 used are manufactured by the company RaylaseAG. The laser can be run in either continuous wave power output mode(CW) with a lower maximum output, or in a pulsed wave power output mode(PW) with close to maximum power output. In PW mode the modulationfrequency is up to 25 kHz and the duty cycle variable, but typically setto 50%. The programming language used for the laser work station 70 isVisual Basic, and after compiling the program, the software isdownloaded to the laser machine. The laser work station 90 uses aprogramming software developed by the company Raylase AG. If images areto be engraved in a sole, different data formats can be used, e.g. thewell known formats jpeg or dxf which can be loaded into the programmingsoftware of both laser work stations.

The polyurethane used in the tests below is based on polyester. Similartests have been made with polyether based polyurethane with the same ornearly the same results. All tests were made in PW mode.

Generally, a laser beam of a laser apparatus for being used inaccordance with aspects of the invention can be controlled with severalparameters input to the laser apparatus, namely continuous wave (CW)mode or pulsating wave (PW) mode, power (W), speed (mm/s), number ofcycles and focus control. Controlling the point of focus, i.e. ofmaximum power, can be made via the laser apparatus itself; the apparatustypically has a scan head with mirrors for moving the laser beam, and byadding an extra lens the point of focus can be moved along a z-axis.Alternatively, focus control can be made by moving the target into andout of focus, e.g. through use of a controllable robot arm. Bothcontinuous wave and pulsating wave mode can be used; the pulsating wavemodus mainly creating dots, whereas the CW mode is preferred forcreating lines without showing the dot effect. The power of the laser isvaried in the range of 5% to 100%. In the examples given below the powerrange was chosen up to 300 W, but higher power can also be used. Thespeed of the laser beam is the speed with which the beam moves acrossthe surface of the respective part of the sole. In our experiments weworked in the range of 50 mm/s to 16000 mm/s. The number of cyclesdenotes how many times a predetermined route of the laser beam isrepeated, or how many shots are made in the same place. For example, formaking a cylindrical through-hole, opening or passage the laser beamwill describe in the respective part of the sole a circle in a firstcycle, then repeat the circle in a second cycle and so on until thehole, opening or passage has been created. In our experiments the numberof cycles has been in the range 5 to 30. For controlling the width of aline when engraving letters or a drawing, the predetermined route of thelaser beam can be offset, e.g. 0.5 mm, to one side after finishing thefirst series of cycles. Then a second series of cycles is executed. Inthis way a wider line is created.

When lasing in a respective part of the sole, however, some unwantedeffects may occur. If lasing is done with too high energy, with too manycycles or too slowly, melting of the sole material in the area of lasingcan occur. The result of this melting is an unwanted shining of theareas lasered, and especially the PU also sometimes gets sticky. Theshining effect in letters or images can be alleviated by afterwardsfilling or covering the bottom of the lasered channel with paint. Thisenhances also the visibility of the lasered letters or image.Alternatively, the shining can be avoided by finding through experimentsthe best settings of speed, power and number of cycles. Another sideeffect is in relation to creating cylindrical through-holes or passagesin the sole. The circular area next to the edge of the hole or passagewhere the laser beam enters shows in some situations melting effects;the sole material is in these areas slightly deformed and shiny. This isespecially the case if holes with a large diameter (>5 mm) are to bemade, because a high amount of energy is needed.

In the following, a number of examples and results thereof aredescribed:

Example 1

A PU sole with a polyurethane based on polyester contains hydrolysispreventing additives calcium and magnesium in a concentration of 5% ofthe weight of the polyol of a tank A. The polyol contains both processadditives and hydrolysis preventing additives. In a tank B theisocyanate (MDI 4.4 (Methyl Di Isocyanate)) is contained, and a mixtureof A and B in the ratio of 100 to 121 is injected into a sole mould. Thepolyurethane has a density of 0.5 g/cm³, a shore A hardness ofapproximately 41, and free density rise of 300 gram/liter.

In order to engrave the letter “A” with lines five points of the A weredefined, see FIG. 6 d. Left leg low is point 200, top of legs is 210,right leg low is 220, middle of left leg is point 230 and middle ofright leg is point 240. These digitized points are loaded into the lasersoftware program of the laser workstations of FIGS. 5A and 5B, and theprogram will look like this:

From point 200 to 210: laser onFrom point 210 to 220: laser onFrom point 220 to 230: laser offFrom point 230 to 240: laser on

Ends

In another test, the letter “A” was then engraved through lasing into asmooth surface of the PU sole. Laser workstation of FIG. 5B was used. PWmode, 50% power, 20 cycles. After ending the first series of cycles thelaser route was offset a bit to one side in order to get wider lines ofthe A. The result was a 2 cm high, 1.5 mm wide and about 0.2 mm deep A,see FIG. 6A. The edges of the A had an acceptable sharpness, and thebottom of the A was not shining. In order to obtain an A with deeperlines, the test was repeated but the number of cycles changed to 30.

In another test, the edge 250 was sharp and acceptable, but the bottom251 of the channel was rough showing peeks and valleys in the surfaceand clear melting effects, see FIG. 6B.

In this case too much heat was generated in target area of the PU sole.In a further test an A in outline was generated, see FIG. 6C. Here,using the laser workstation of FIG. 5A, the laser beam has made channels252 but left the interior surface of the A untouched. This A was 30 mmin height, depth into the sole 1 mm, PW mode with 30% power and speed 30mm/s. The result was very good with clean sharp edges and a smoothbottom in the channels of the A. A repetition of the test with 100 mm/sgave a very weak A with a depth of approximately 0.1 mm. The A wasnearly not visible in the sole.

Example 2

A logo “ECCO with a stripe” (FIG. 7A) was lasered into a PU sole bymeans of the laser workstation of FIG. 5A. Power 20%, speed 16000 mm/s,number of cycles 5. There was a melting effect in the lasered areas 400which melting could be visually covered by using paint as described.Further, the sole showed some discoloring 410 meaning that there wascreated an irregular white surface layer next to the letters. The layerwas to a certain extent removable just by wiping it off or using a wettowel, and was caused by smoke from the burned PU. In order to avoidthis further manufacturing step during production, a fan or an exhaustdevice was used for removing smoke generated by the laser beam. In asecond trial the logo “GORE” with an arrow was lasered in the PU sole inan outline format as shown in FIG. 7B. The power used was 100%, thespeed 500 mm/s and the number of cycles 5. The result was a logo withwell defined sharp edges. The channels 420 of the outline of the logowere approx. 0.8 mm wide and 0.4 mm deep.

Example 3

A lion image 430 (FIG. 7C) was created in CorelDraw™ and downloaded as adxf-file into the laser workstation of FIG. 5A. In a first trial thepower of the laser was set to 50% and the laser speed to 1227 mm/s, thenumber of cycles was 5. The width of the resulting line was approx. 0.5mm. The sole was a PU sole as described. The result was a good copy ofthe original drawing with a depth of approx. 0.2 mm. Repeating thelasing in a second trial but with 100% power the depth became approx.0.5 mm. In a third trial the laser speed was lowered to 500 mm/s whilethe power was 100%, and this gave the best result with a depth of approx0.9 mm and a clearly visible lion. No discoloring or melting effect wasobserved in the PU.

Example 4

A grey outsole of styrene butadiene rubber (SBR), intended to be adheredto a polyurethane midsole and having a profiled tread, was used. Thethickness of the outsole varied between five and two millimeters. Acircle with a diameter of four centimeter was lasered in the tread—bythe variable speed laser workstation of FIG. 5B. Laser power was 80%,number of cycles 20. The result is a circle which is nearly cut fullythrough the outsole, but not completely. The outsole smelled bad, butthe smell disappeared after a few months. There was a white discolouringat the edge of the circle of the grey SBR outsole.

Example 5

A black latex outsole with a thickness of 2 millimeters is intended tobe adhered to a PU midsole as the tread. The latex outsole was laseredby the workstation of FIG. 5B with a circle under the same conditions asin example 4. The edge was sharp and clean, but the outsole smelled bad.As with the SBR outsole of example 4 the smell disappeared after a fewmonths.

Example 6

A sole consisting of a mixture of small pieces of cork and PU waslasered by the FIG. 5B workstation in the tread with a circle having adiameter of 4 cm. The power was 80%, the number of cycles 15. The laserbeam cut 5 mm into the 10 mm thick sole. The edge of the circle had anacceptable sharpness, and there was no debris. It had a bad smell whichdisappeared after a few months. This type of sole is better suited formaking through-holes, openings or passages than for engraving letters orimages.

Example 7

The laser workstation of FIG. 5B is used. A TPU outsole was lasered witha circle of 4 cm in diameter, 15 cycles, 80% power. The thickness of TPUoutsole was 2 mm, and it was nearly lasered through. Burn and meltingeffects visible on the edges, but the sharpness of the edge wasacceptable.

Example 8

This trial concerns making a through-hole or passage in a PU sole whichPU has the same characteristics as described under example 1. Theapprox. 12 mm thick PU sole was subjected by the laser workstation ofFIG. 5A to lasing in a vertical direction of the sole, i.e. from theupper surface towards the tread. The power was 80%, the number of cycles20 and the speed was set to 500 mm/s. A cylindrical through-hole with adiameter was created by the laser beam which lasered a circle linehaving a channel width of approx. 1.3 mm. The cylindrical left-over inthe middle of the through-hole could afterwards be removed. The edge ofthe through-hole was sharp.

Further trials for making through-holes in a PU sole were made. A 1 mmhole was made in a 15 mm PU sole in the vertical direction of the sole.The through-hole had a sharp edge and there was no debris left. Theentry of the hole was circular with a 1 mm diameter, whereas the exithole was a bit smaller, approx. 0.8 mm. Thus the laser beam basicallycreates a conical channel or passage when creating a hole. The laserpower was set to 100%, laser speed 500 mm/s and the number of cycles was5. This size of holes is well-suited for a sole which has to haveventilating characteristics.

Several small through-holes or passages can thus be distributed acrossthe surface of the tread of a sole or across the bottom or side surfaceof a midsole. Through these holes, which can number between e.g. 25 to200, the sweat and moisture from the interior of the shoe can be guidedto the exterior of the shoe, hereby improving the climate comfort of thefoot.

In a further trial with the same parameters as above, but with only onecycle, the result was a hole or cavity of 1 mm diameter and 12 mm deep,i.e. not a through-hole. In an even further trial a 4 mm through-holewas made with power set to 100%, speed 50 mm/s and number of cycles 5.The through-hole showed the same conical characteristic as describedabove.

Example 9

A laser workstation according to FIG. 5B was used. In this test, alateral (particularly horizontal) hole was shot into a midsolecorresponding, in principle, to surrounding sole element 80 of FIG. 1 tomake the lateral passages 50 by means of a laser beam instead of usingpins in the mould. The midsole was subjected to a 90% power, 30 cyclestrial. The diameter of the hole was 5 mm at the outside of the midsole,but narrowed in a bit inside the midsole. The depth of the passage madewas 30 mm. Larger penetration depths would be possible by increasing thepower or decreasing the speed.

Example 10

A laser workstation according to FIG. 5B was used. This test concernsshooting a hole or opening 55 (FIG. 1) in the side wall of a ventilatingsole element formed by PU, which corresponds, in principle, to theventilating sole element 60 of FIG. 1, while shooting through a lateralpassage 50 in the midsole, which passage was previously made by pins ofan aluminium mould for forming the midsole.

For example, the opening was made in the side wall of the ventilatingsole element by keeping the beam of the laser in a fixed direction (i.e.no sweeping of the laser beam) and letting the robot position the targetspot of the element aligned with the center of the laser lens. Thismeans that the laser beam was not swept. Instead only the robot armholding the sole was moved. However, there may be applications in whicha mirror may be used when making such openings in an element of a sole.

In FIG. 8, as an example for illustrating principles of the invention, aschematic manufacturing environment is shown for forming openings 55 inthe side wall 602 of a ventilating sole element 60. As can be seen fromFIG. 8, the laser beam 95-1 will open the hole or opening in the sidewall 602 because there is no beam deflection with respect to the lateralpassage 50 where the laser beam is shot through. On the other hand, ifthe laser apparatus 91 is equipped with laser mirrors for deflecting thelaser beam, a deflected laser beam such as laser beam 95-2 will notreach the bottom of the passage 50 in case the passage has a certainlength as in the present application.

According to an example a number of openings can be made in apolyurethane sole. The sole material used may be Elastollan™ frommanufacturer Elastogran GmbH. Elastollan has a relatively low density(0.35 g/cm³) and is often used for shoe midsoles. The following stepsmay be applied in various ways, in combination or individually dependingon the particular implementation and needs.

(1) In a first step the sole target is placed in front of the laser bythe robot. (2) In a second step the target spot on the sole or elementthereof is placed orthogonally to the laser beam by the robot. (3) In athird step the laser beam hits the sole material at an angle to the sole(element) surface of approximately 90 degrees. (4) In a fourth step thefocus of the laser is kept constant, i.e. unchanged. (5) In a fifth stepa series of laser shots towards the target spot is performed (e.g.,multiple shots in the same place). The number of cycles may be between 1and 10 depending on the power of the laser and material and depth ofentry. Duration per cycle may be approx. 1 ms.

When applied for connecting the lateral passages of the surrounding soleelement to the structure or material of the ventilating sole element,the laser shots may result in a diameter of the openings in the sidewall of the ventilating sole element which equals the diameter of thepassages made by the pins in the surrounding sole element duringinjection. In order to get the desired diameter the number of cycles canbe varied as can the relative position of the shots. During a shot cyclethe target can be moved a few millimeters (e.g., the robot moves), andthe diameter will increase. In a further step, the robot moves the soleto the next target spot, i.e. the process goes to the second step (2)above.

In relation to the ventilating sole element, the opening of the sidewall of the ventilating sole element with laser leaves no debris.Everything is burned away. Hereby any clogging of the air channelscaused during manufacturing of the openings is prevented. The methodfurther has the advantage that it is very fast compared to drilling outthe openings.

In the present example, the diameter of the opening 55 in the wall 602should be a bit smaller than the diameter of the passages 50 alreadypresent in the surrounding sole element; otherwise the laser beam wouldaesthetically damage the visible edge of the passage.

example, the ventilating sole element is made of a polyurethane based onpolyether. The laser beam was applied with 70% power, and the number ofcycles was 5. A 2 mm diameter opening was made in the wall of theventilating sole element. No damage of the walls or side of the midsoleoccurred.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for manufacturing at least one part of asole assembly of a shoe comprising the steps of directing a laser beamtowards the at least one part of the sole assembly comprising a polymermaterial and creating at least one of an opening, passage, cavity orengraved pattern in the at least one part of the sole assembly by meansof the laser beam, or removing material from the at least one part ofthe sole assembly by means of the laser beam.
 2. The method according toclaim 1, wherein the at least one part of the sole assembly comprises apolymer material which is resistant to hydrolysis or contains materialwhich is resistant to hydrolysis.
 3. The method according to claim 1,wherein the at least one part of the sole assembly comprises apolyurethane material based on a mixture of an isocyanate and apolyether.
 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the at least onepart of the sole assembly comprises a polyurethane material based on amixture of an isocyanate and a polyester based polyol, wherein one ormore of hydrolysis preventing additives are added to the polyol.
 5. Themethod of claim 4, wherein one or more of the following hydrolysispreventing additives are added to the polyol: calcium and magnesiumcarbonate, or calcium and magnesium stearate, particularly in the rangeof 1% to 10% of the weight of the polyol including process additives, ifany.
 6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the at least one partof the sole assembly comprises a thermoplastic polyurethane, or amixture of cork and polyurethane.
 7. The method according to claim 1,comprising the step of creating at least one opening or passage by meansof the laser beam such that the opening or passage is connecting aninterior of the shoe with an outside of the shoe for air ventilation ofthe shoe.
 8. The method according to claim 1, comprising the step ofcreating at least one opening or passage by means of the laser beam,wherein the opening or passage has a diameter in the range of 0.1 to 5millimeters.
 9. The method according to claim 8, wherein the point oflaser beam focus is placed on a side wall of the at least one part ofthe sole assembly.
 10. The method according to claim 1, furthercomprising the steps of providing a ventilating sole element having astructure or material allowing for air flow through it, and creating atleast one opening in a side wall of the ventilating sole element bymeans of the laser beam such that the opening is enabling airventilation from an interior of the ventilating sole element to anoutside of the shoe.
 11. The method according to claim 1, comprising thestep of creating at least one opening or passage in an outsole, midsoleor surrounding sole element of the sole assembly,
 12. The methodaccording to claim 10, further comprising the step of creating at leastone opening or passage in a side wall of the ventilating sole element,which has a structure or material allowing for air flow through it andwhich is at least partially surrounded by at least a portion of the soleassembly with at least one passage in it, by means of the laser beamdirected through the at least one passage in the portion of the soleassembly surrounding the ventilating sole element, in particular theoutsole, the midsole or the surrounding sole element.
 13. The methodaccording to claim 1, wherein the at least one part of the sole assemblycomprises at least one of the following materials: TPU, styrene butadienrubber, latex or cork.
 14. The method according to claim 1, comprisingthe step of creating at least one of an opening, passage, cavity orengraved pattern in a lateral, medial, front or back side of the atleast one part of the sole assembly.
 15. The method according to claim1, wherein the laser beam is controlled to generate a power output in arange between 50 W and 500 W at a speed in the range of 20 mm/s to 2000mm/s.
 16. The method according to claim 1, wherein the laser beam isapplied in a laser beam cycle which repeatedly scans over a portion ofthe at least one part of the sole assembly, wherein the laser beam cycleis repeated within the range of 5 to 30 times.
 17. The method accordingto claim 1, further providing a controllable robot which is adapted toplace the at least one part of the sole assembly in front of the laserbeam, wherein the laser beam through a series of repeated laser cycleson the at least one part of the sole assembly creates the at least oneof an opening, passage, cavity or engraved pattern, or removes materialfrom the at least one part of the sole assembly.
 18. The methodaccording to claim 17, wherein a point of focus of the laser beam ischanged in steps in the following way: a) placing the target of the atleast one part of the sole assembly in a point of focus, b) performing afirst series of laser cycles which generate a channel with a firstpenetration depth, c) moving by means of the robot said at least onepart of the sole assembly towards the point of focus so that the bottomof the channel is placed in the focus point of the laser beam, d)performing a second series of laser cycles which deepens the channel inthe sole.
 19. The method according to claim 1, wherein the at least onepart of the sole assembly is formed by sole material injected onto anupper of the shoe, or is part of a pre-assembled part of the sole to beglued to an upper of the shoe.
 20. The method according to claim 1,wherein a first laser workstation is used for roughing an upper of theshoe, whereafter the upper is placed in a mould and sole material isinjected onto parts of the upper and hereby adhered to the upper, andwhereafter the first laser workstation or a second laser workstation isused for creating the at least one of an opening, passage, cavity orengraved pattern, or removing material from the sole material.
 21. Soleassembly for a shoe comprising at least one part which is manufacturedfrom a polymer material, wherein the at least one part of the soleassembly comprises at least one of an opening, passage, cavity orengraved pattern created by means of a laser beam.
 22. The sole assemblyaccording to claim 21, wherein the at least one part of the soleassembly comprises a polymer material which is resistant to hydrolysisor contains material which is resistant to hydrolysis.
 23. The soleassembly according to claim 21, wherein the at least one part of thesole assembly comprises a polyurethane material based on a mixture of anisocyanate and a polyether.
 24. The sole assembly according to claim 21,wherein the at least one part of the sole assembly comprises apolyurethane material based on a mixture of an isocyanate and apolyester based polyol, wherein one or more of hydrolysis preventingadditives are added to the polyol.
 25. The sole assembly of claim 24,wherein one or more of the following hydrolysis preventing additives areadded to the polyol: calcium and magnesium carbonate, or calcium andmagnesium stearate, particularly in the range of 1% to 10% of the weightof the polyol including process additives, if any.
 26. The sole assemblyaccording to claim 21, wherein the at least one part of the soleassembly comprises a thermoplastic polyurethane, or a mixture of corkand polyurethane.